News in brief: OC Rice student attacked in house, Schizophrenic Med Center patient enters Lovett

10/1/09 7:00pm

OC Rice student attacked in house

An off-campus Rice student was the victim of an attack by an intruder her home last weekend. The intruder, an unidentified male, is still at large.Wiess College senior Rachel Solnick said she woke up Sunday around 12:30 p.m. after hearing someone enter her house, which is located one block away from the BioScience Research Collaborative. The intruder sounded like he was looking for someone, Solnick said. Thinking the male was a guest that her roommates had not yet come downstairs to greet, Solnick got dressed and prepared to see who it was. Solnick's room - partitioned out of the downstairs common room and separated by a curtain - was within easy reach of the intruder, who opened the curtain and, though Solnick saw him just momentarily, grabbed her and pushed her back onto her bed, despite her kicking and attempting to push him away. Solnick said she screamed at the intruder, waking her roommate, who came downstairs and yelled at him to leave. The male, whom Solnick said she had never seen before, left.

Immediately after the incident, Solnick called the Houston Police Department. Members of HPD searched the neighborhood for the suspect but failed to turn up any results. At the time of writing, Solnick said she planned to speak to an HPD investigator Thursday to identify potential suspects.

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Solnick said the back door to her house had been unlocked for just a few minutes. In that time, the intruder walked in and snatched her purse. She said he might have been planning to leave shortly afterward but then heard her nearby.

Solnick said one of the HPD officers advised her to keep a "peacekeeper," or a gun, around the house.

After speaking with members of HPD, Solnick got in touch with the Rice University Police Department and sent them a description of the event. She said she found it surprising no crime bulletin was sent out, and attributes this to a miscommunication within RUPD, who may initially have considered it just an attempted burglary. In addition, a day had elapsed between her original report and RUPD's realization of the magnitude of the case.

She said because of her proximity to the Rice campus and the fact that the intruder was still at large, the greater Rice community should have been notified immediately of the incident.

"We didn't know where he was," Solnick said. "The fact that he's still out there . he's probably some sort of mental case, which almost makes it even worse."

Solnick said her experience is not in keeping with Rice's Web site's statement to inform students of area crime. Though RUPD Captain Dianna Marshall told her there is an additional criterion of timeliness and relevance to on-campus crime, Solnick said this directly affects the Rice area. She suggested the need for a Listserv which kept students informed of area crime. This Listserv could also be available to off-campus students who could opt in if they wished, she said.

"We're still Rice students, and this is really close, so maybe we should advocate for people to opt in [to Listservs] for additional awareness," she said.

She said RUPD helped her in opening her case, and that this may be more of an issue with their policy.

"Rice did do a good job," Solnick said. "Maybe this is just a philosophical issue about how much you should let your community be aware."

- Sarah Rutledge

Schizophrenic Med Center patient enters Lovett

A 25-year-old schizophrenic male patient who had left a hospital in the nearby Texas Medical Center wandered into the Lovett College commons around 6 p.m. Wednesday, Lovett Vice President Drew Berger said.

The man, who was wearing denim shorts over scrubs, watched television in the lower commons and then attempted to enter the servery, at which point the Rice University Police Department was called, Berger said. The man proceeded to watch a couple of girls play Super Smash Brothers in the lower commons. When three RUPD officers arrived at about 6:15 p.m., the man was playing video games with another student, Berger said.

The officers escorted the man outside, took his picture and then sent him back to the hospital, Wiess College junior Emily Salomon said. Salomon, a Lovett co-adviser, observed the incident.

"The guy was confused and had an issue with his medication and he wasn't being watched in the hospital across the street, so he just wandered over," Salomon said. "They picked him up and put him back at the hospital site, hoping someone would pick him up."

Berger said this was not the first time a stranger had wandered into the Lovett commons recently.

"This is the second time in the last fortnight that a suspicious person has been called in," Berger said.

- Jocelyn Wright

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